FATAL COACH ACCIDENT

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 187, 17 November 1910, Page 5

FATAL COACH ACCIDENT

DRIVER OF OPUNAKE COACH KILLED. NARROW ESCAPE OF PASSENGERS. Yesterday morning, on the journey ttNew Plymouth from Opunake, the Motor Transport. Company's new motor coach toppled over a bank, and the driver, Albert Stinson, was killed almost instantaneously. It appears that about a quarter to ten the coach was descending the Timaru hill, at a place generally known the Ahuahu, about a mile and a half on the Opunake side of Oakura. The coach was reaching the bottom of the hill, with an incline before it, when it bumped some loose metal on the road and turned off towards the side. The driver tried to keep the coach on its proper course, but the steering gear had given way, and a moment later the vehicle went over the side of the hill and down a bank from twenty to thirty feet in height, turning completely over as it did so, and falling on one side in a swamp.

Six passengers were on the coach, besides the conductor (a lad), who was sitting next to the door, and who managed to jump out as the coach was going over the edge of the bank. Five passengers all fell inside the coach, were badly shaken, and received minor wounds, but were otherwise uninjured. The sixth was George .Stinson, a brother of the driver, next to whom he was sitting, and who was considerably knocked about.

Several road men were working about a mile away, and they at once hastened to the scene of the' accident. It was found that Albert Stinson was held under the surface of the swamp under the bank, his neck being jambed amongst some of the machinery. After about five minutes he was extricated, but it was found that life was extinct. He had been suffocated in the swamp. A message for assistance was sent to Oakura, and Dr. Home was soon on his way from New Plymouth. The passengers, with the exception ol George Stinson, had a marvellous escape. The' deceased was slightly over thirty years of age, and unmarried. He came out from Scotland as an expert to the company about twelve months ago. The passengers who were in the coach at the time say that he was driving very carefully. The conductor estimates the speed at which the coach came down the Timaru hill at about ten or twelve miles an hour. The brakes were in use all the time.

The coach was a 25-30 h.p. Char-a-Banc, made by the Arrol Johnstone Company, the well-known Scottish makers of motor-cars. It was landed only seven weeks ago, and was a very comfortable and useful vehicle. The, coach itself was not insured, but the Motor Transport Company has a public risk policy in the Phoenix Assurance Office. It was badly damaged. George Stinson was removed td» the Oakura Hotel, where his wounds were temporarily dressed by Dr. Home prior to his removal to the New Plymouth Hospital. Mr. Hugh Baily, secretary of the company, was present at the scene of the accident, having motored out immediately the news of the accident was received.

The body of deceased was conveyed to the morgue by Mr. T. Corkill, of Oakura, and an inquest will be held today.

Deceased was very popular among his fellow employees and those with whom he came in contact, and his untimely end is much deplored.